New Friendly Neighbors
by flaveaa
Summary: "Oh, you have met each other?" Cap asked, looking back and forth. "Steve," Mr. Falcon started to say, looking like he wanted to bang his head on the wall, "He's Spiderman." (Peter couldn't believe Mr. Falcon just outed him like that.)


**Author's Note:** Created for Happy Steve Bingo with the prompt: "My Pet's in Your Apartment!"

So, this was impulsively written after I kept seeing Cap and Spiderman panels on my dashboard and got reminded that I really liked their interactions in the comics. This was set in the MCUthough, because I wished we could get more interactions between them. This is also my first try at writing from Peter's POV.

* * *

"Noooo, don't go!" Peter shrieked when his cat went out of the window. He opened it only for a minute before he started his night patrol, but somehow his cat saw the window and promptly decided that he wanted to get out of his room. Peter ran to the window and sighed when he didn't see any dead cat down there, though when he turned his head the freaking cat was walking on the small stick out wall towards the apartment next to his. His eyes widen when he saw the cat turned to enter the other apartment through the window. He didn't even realize that the window in the apartment was open.

"No, no, no, don't get in there!" He yelled though it was too late.

He bristled—out of all cats Aunt May adopted; she had to adopt the rebellious one, the one that didn't like Peter. He couldn't even call the cat by its name because it was like calling himself. Aunt May just had to name it Peter. Just because Aunt May adopted it as a replacement for him when he was gone, didn't mean she had to name it Peter too.

He sighed. He considered leaving the cat on his neighbor's apartment and went on patrol as if nothing happened, but Aunt May trusted him to take care of it and his neighbor might freak out to have a random cat entering his/her apartment. Peter couldn't do that to him/her when they didn't know each other and the neighbor just moved in a few days ago. They hadn't even met each other.

Peter started taking off his Spiderman suit again and put on his t-shirt and pants in a hurry. He put on his sandals and went out of the apartment, going straight to the other apartment. He rang the bell twice and waited. He wondered if the person in the apartment had seen the cat. He rang the bell again because it had been over 15 seconds since the last time he rang—it was a personal rule—and waited again. This time it didn't take another 15 seconds before the door finally opened.

"Hi, excuse me—Oh."

Should he be proud or be ashamed that he could recognize Captain America at one glance? Even without the uniform, the shield, or the cowl and with a ruffled hair, Peter was sure the person in front of him was Captain America or his clone. Peter hoped that Captain America wasn't sleeping and that he wasn't disturbing him.

"Hello," Captain America greeted him, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Are you Captain America?" Peter asked because he couldn't stop his mouth from asking.

"Ex-Captain America," Captain America corrected him, though he followed that by a nod, "Yes."

Ex? He always thought even after the whole civil war thing Captain America was still Captain America, and now that the accord was rectified and the charges against Captain America and his team was dropped, Captain America could continue to be Captain America. If Captain America was not Captain America anymore, what was Peter supposed to call him with? Mr. Rogers…sounded weird.

"You are my new neighbor?" Peter asked, forgetting about the cat altogether. He was too shocked. He had nothing to expect about his new neighbor, but he really didn't expect it to be Captain America. He thought Captain America lived in the Avengers mansion or—well, if he wasn't an Avenger anymore, then in Brooklyn? What was he doing in Queens? Did something here? Or—did he knew that Peter was Spiderman and was investigating about it?

"Ah yes, I am sorry that we haven't visited anyone around here, we haven't had a chance to," Cap said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. He didn't seem to recognize Peter at all, but he could be acting.

"No, it's okay," Peter said, he offered his hand to Cap and introduced himself, "I am Peter Parker, I live right next to you with Aunt May, haha."

Even Peter realized that his fake laugh sounded so awkward.

"Nice to meet you, I am Steve Rogers," Cap shook his hand and then noted, "You sound kinda familiar."

"No, we haven't met before!" Peter denied and wondered what he was denying when Cap didn't even really imply anything. Cap let go of his hand, and they stood for a while, and Peter started wondering again why he was there out loud, "Anyway, what am I doing here?"

Cap rightfully looked confused, "I am not sure?"

And then Peter remembered.

"Oh right! My pet's in your apartment," Peter finally told him, slapping his own head for forgetting. He then explained, "It's not really my pet, more like Aunt May's, but, you know. He went out of my window and got into this apartment."

"I see, come in then, I will find your pet," Cap said, understanding. He opened his door widely for Peter before Peter could say that he could wait outside. It would be rude to refuse when Cap already welcomed him, right? Maybe he shouldn't come into another man's apartment so easily like this, but it was Captain America.

Once he was inside, Cap led him inside the apartment. Peter noticed that he was moving much slower than he should have and that he was limping. Peter suddenly remembered why the last time they really met was at the airport—it was because when he and the others came back, Cap was too busy dying to see them. He wondered if Cap was still recovering; it was a little over three months since Peter came back.

"I thought you lived in Brooklyn?" Peter asked, so they can have a conversation instead of being silent. And he was curious.

"That was years ago," Cap laughed, "I want to try out another place, can't be stuck there forever."

They arrived in the living room and Cap stopped walking; he held onto one of the sofas, supporting his body. He looked a little tired even by a small walk. He looked at Peter and asked, "Your pet, what is it? Not something weird like snakes right?"

Cap shuddered a little when he said 'snakes' and momentarily Peter wondered if Captain America was afraid of snakes.

"No, it's a cat."

"Okay, please wait here. I think your cat is in my room,"

Peter watched as Cap limped to one room. He almost offered to search for the cat by himself, considering Cap's condition, but then realized that going to another person's bedroom might be ruder than letting Cap search for the cat. Peter was not sure how to act around the captain, he only knew that he didn't want to be rude in front of him.

Cap disappeared and Peter looked around. The apartment was still the basic setup of this apartment complex, but there were photos and drawings being put up, more drawings than photos. The photos looked quite old, there were photos of the newest-before-the-accord Avengers team, Cap with Falcon, Cap with others or other Avengers without Cap. The drawings were more varied; they included people from Cap's past. He must have lost a lot of people.

"Here you go."

Peter turned his head so fast he heard creaks when he heard Cap coming back, a cat in his arms now, looking so settled and comfortable in the ex-Avenger's arms. Even a cat knew Cap had very reliable arms. Cap handed the cat to Peter and it had the gall to look annoyed at being moved. It was weird, Peter loved animals. He loved cats. But this cat seemed to have an aversion to him. Was it because the cat thought Peter coming back lessened his importance in Aunt May's eyes?

"Naughty cat," he chided the cat. Cap smiled at Peter—or maybe, at the cat. Peter did nothing that guaranteed a smile.

"It's cute," he said, "What's his name?"

"Peter," Peter answered, Cap seemed like want to make sure he heard the answer right, so he quickly explained, "I was gone for a while so my aunt adopted a cat and named it after me."

It seemed that Cap knew what he meant when he said 'I was gone'. He looked pained and sorry to hear that, so different from how at ease he looked despite being pained earlier. Peter distracted him by saying, "Thank you, I am sorry for interrupting your rest."

"It's fine, I was getting bored," Cap said, sitting down on the sofa. Peter pondered if he should excuse himself now, but then Cap asked, "You live with your aunt? Is she here?"

"No, she is out of town."

It was so hard to convince her to go; she didn't want to leave him alone. She barely allowed him to do his Spiderman business. She had become overprotective, much more than usual. Peter hoped that this would be one step in the right direction for her to trust him to handle himself again.

"Do you have dinner ready?" Cap asked and Peter answered by shaking his head, so he offered, "You should have dinner here, then, food is coming soon."

Peter couldn't help but thought, 'Wow, Captain America offered me dinner.'

He fought Cap; he didn't really want to do that, but he thought he was doing a good thing by doing that. He still admired Captain America a lot, years of admiring him didn't get erased by one fight especially when the reason of that fight was so muddy and he was not even sure if Cap was in the wrong. He had thought a lot about that when he came back from German. He was not even sure if it was right for him to be in the airport considering that he was not registered at all.

"I don't want to impose," Peter said, while the cat was struggling to be free from him.

"It's okay, you're our first guest here," Cap said, "We were planning to go around to introduce ourselves, maybe you can tell me about this neighborhood?"

"I guess I'll stay," Peter said, though he was not inclined to leave. He would love a free dinner and save money. He was planning to buy dinner when he was out.

"You should sit down," Cap suggested and Peter sat down. He just realized that Cap kept saying 'we' and 'our', instead of 'I' or 'my'. Did he live with someone here? Who would that be? Was it Mr. Barnes? They were best friends, it would make sense for them to live together.

Peter had so many questions and the one he ended up asking for real was, "So, are you really retired? Like, for real?"

Peter didn't know why he felt so disappointed about that.

"As Captain America, yes, I guess?" Cap shrugged, "I like to think I am just taking a leave until I am fully recovered, but I don't think I will come back as Captain America."

Then who Cap would come back as?

"Why? Captain America is awesome."

"Yeah. But Captain America had become something I couldn't handle, and I am not sure if I am ready to take on such a big responsibility again," Cap explained and it surprised Peter that he didn't look conflicted or pained about acknowledging that. He looked relieved and accepting of that, it made Peter wondered how much burden Cap had to shoulder when he was Captain America. Even as Spiderman, doing what he did was hard, he wondered if one day, he had to face that he might not be capable to be Spiderman anymore, would he be as accepting?

Cap continued to explain, "I will try something small, first. Maybe Spiderman needs help around here? I can be a friendly neighborhood Captain."

Peter wanted to cough. Was that a hint that he knew who Peter was? But there were only the two of them here, so Cap could totally tell him whether or not he knew. Though if he knew, Peter wanted to know how he knew. Did Mr. Stark tell him? He didn't know whether the two of them were in good terms now. Oh, it was probably Mr. Barnes or Mr. Falcon. They talked a lot when they were…stranded? Yeah, stranded in another world.

The door of the apartment opened and someone yelled, "Babe, I am back!"

Peter recognized that voice. Cap smiled widely upon hearing the voice. Several sounds of steps and Sam Wilson emerged in front of Peter's eyes after he went past the sofa Peter was sitting on. Mr. Falcon walked towards Cap without even looking at Peter and kissed his head.

Peter's jaw not literally dropped.

"Hey," Cap greeted him softly and after Mr. Falcon kissed him, tried to stand up, probably to help Mr. Falcon with the containers he brought. Mr. Falcon pushed him down to sit again while Peter was confused.

"Hey. No, sit down," Mr. Falcon ordered while Cap petulantly obliged. Uhm, at least this answered one of Peter's questions.

Mr. Falcon turned to him, finally acknowledging his presence. He frowned when he saw Peter there, asking, "Parker? What are you doing here?"

Peter felt like he should be the one asking what Captain America and Falcon were doing here.

"Oh, you have met each other?" Cap asked, looking back and forth.

"Steve," Mr. Falcon started to say, looking like he wanted to bang his head on the wall, "He's Spiderman."

Peter couldn't believe Mr. Falcon just outed him like that.

"What? He's our neighbor," Cap said. Peter thought his mind might be blown. He put on a serious face, not as relaxed as before, and looked at Peter closely, analyzing him, probably judging him, too. Peter felt a little uncomfortable.

Mr. Falcon walked towards the kitchen while shaking his head, "We got Spiderman as our neighbor?"

"Uhmmm…"

Peter was speechless. But at least some of his questions were answered.

1). Cap didn't know that he was Spiderman.

2). Cap's roommate was Falcon.

3). They were not spying on him or doing anything related to him.

New question:

1). Cap and Falcon relationship status?

"Can he stay for dinner?" Cap asked, after he was done analyzing Peter, which made him feel relieved. And the dinner offer still stood despite Cap finding out about his identity. Peter didn't think Cap was petty and hated him after the airport fight, but there was a small chance for that. He didn't seem to question how Mr. Falcon knew about Peter's identity, so he assumed that Mr. Falcon had told him about talking to Spiderman, at least.

"Thank God I bought extra," Mr. Falcon said, preparing the dinner he bought, taking them out and putting them on the plates, "I can't believe out of all apartments, we chose the one next to Spiderman."

"It's a crazy coincidence," Peter admitted, once he recovered from processing information. He finally could ask something normal, which was, "So, how are you, Mr. Falcon?"

"I'm great," Mr. Falcon answered with no hesitations, "You, kid? Coping well after coming back?"

"So far, yeah."

Other than the nightmares about being stranded in space, about dying, he was okay. He was just glad to be back, honestly, even if the world still needed time to recover from being fucked up by a mad alien. At least he was alive and could help everyone who needed help. At least Aunt May was alive and kicking. At least they had a cat.

"I am sorry for what happened the last time we met," Cap apologized, hunching as he remembered the fight.

"Oh, that's fine. I am really strong. Mr. Falcon and I have forgiven each other for the whole airport thing."

Peter had no ill feelings at all. But Mr. Falcon shouted from the kitchen, "Who said I forgive you?"

"Sam," Cap chided, putting on his Captain look and glared at Mr. Falcon.

Mr. Falcon put his hand up and deadpanned, "I am kidding."

Mr. Falcon's humor was the kind that could give Peter a heart attack. He could easily convince Peter that he had accidentally offended people, and he knew Peter hated offending people. He probably shouldn't hang out with Mr. Falcon too much even though they were neighbors now, even though he wanted, too. Mr. Falcon was as awesome as Cap.

Cap turned to him again. It was amazing how he could switch from looking captain-y to looking like a concerned father. He asked Peter again, "But you weren't hurt, right? Stark got you back safely?"

"No—Hey!"

He thought the cat had fallen asleep, but it suddenly jumped from his arms to the table separating him and Cap, walking towards Cap. Cap just laughed when the cat jumped to his lap and snuggled to him. Peter concluded that it had fallen in love with Cap.

"Man, even cats like you," Mr. Falcon said when he saw the scene. He was bringing the plates one by one to the living room, "I have so many competitions."

Hearing that finally made Peter hesitantly asked, "Are you two…dating?"

"No," Mr. Falcon answered, standing in between him and Cap, "Engaged. We are getting married."

Cap grinned widely hearing that, putting his head down but still unable to hide his smile. Peter was sure he was blushing. Mr. Falcon grinned too, though he hurried back to the kitchen to get the rest of the plates. Peter felt kind of jealous—of who, he wasn't sure, but he was also jealous because he wanted to have someone to act bashful around again.

"Oh, wow, you two…oh. Mr. Falcon didn't tell me you are dating."

They talked a lot in the other world, but no one mentioned this. Though he guessed it made sense how Mr. Falcon looked so distressed when he realized that Cap wasn't with them.

"We have been dating for more than 3 years," Mr. Falcon explained, "It's not news. Also, we got more important things to talk about."

Like how to get out of wherever they were, yeah. But, Peter was more amazed by the fact that Cap and Falcon were getting married. He thought that they hadn't announced their relationship or their upcoming marriage to the world, because if they did, Peter would know. When they finally announced their relationship, the media would have a field day and Peter felt kind of bad for them because some might slander them. But he thought it would be good if they came out, it would be a slap to the homophobes and conservatives who used to use Cap as the face of their bigotry, not to mention they could inspire so many people to be confident with their identity, with their preferences.

"Parker, are you okay?" Cap's concerned voice brought him back from imagining the possibilities. Captain America was concerned a lot.

"Oh, I am okay," Peter assured him, "Just spacing out a little,"

"The food is here, I hope you like Indian," Cap smiled, looking at the food on the table and then taking a plate, "So, how old are you?"

* * *

"He is so young, though."

Sam groaned, "Steve."

Sam didn't expect them to have Spiderman as their neighbor. They picked the apartment in a hurry as soon as their rogue/criminal status was lifted and Steve was recovered enough to be released from the hospital, so it was such a big coincidence that they picked the one next to Spiderman's apartment. They had spent their night talking to Parker, Steve almost interrogating him about being Spiderman once he found out how young Parker was. The longer they talked, the more Steve was concerned.

Even after Parker went back to his apartment, when Sam and he were finally in bed, trying to sleep, Steve was still concerned.

"It doesn't feel right," Steve said, "He is doing all that…all alone."

Honestly, Sam was also worried about the young man. He reminded Steve a little about how determined he was to help people, he was also as reckless as Steve. It was ironic how Steve was concerned about someone who was like him yet had no concern about himself. It was in character, but Sam wanted Steve to focus on himself first, not another person, not even Sam. He hadn't fully recovered from his injuries even after several weeks out of the hospital. Granted, he was in a coma for a month, so maybe it made sense how long it took for him to fully recover.

Maybe Sam was being selfish for wanting Steve to stay idle and focus on recovering, but after being separated for months and coming back only to see Steve dying, he wanted to be selfish. He wanted to Steve to stay alive and healthy, so they could always be there for each other from now on. Honestly, Sam was still frazzled by his experience, so he hoped he handled Steve and himself well.

"Well, since we are here, we can watch out for him," Sam said, "But, no mentoring, avenging, or hero-ing for you, okay?"

"I am not thinking about mentoring him," Steve retorted. Too bad Sam could read him.

"Yes, you are."

"Okay, I am. But I know I can't do that," Steve admitted. It was a miracle that Steve admitted that he couldn't do something, that he accepted that he couldn't do much right now. Sam was relieved that Steve was taking it easy and that he looked happy now, for one, especially after Sam's proposal. He was motivated to get healthy as soon as possible so they could get married properly. Sam really hoped nothing would erase the happiness and motivation Steve had now.

"I am gonna talk to the birds to watch out for him," Sam promised.

"You are getting used to your new power."

It was a side effect. Some people came back with new powers and Sam was included, though his power was weird. It was disorientating when he realized he could understand birds. Out of all powers, his power was to talk to birds. It was as if whoever assigned the powers thought it would be funny to give Falcon the power to talk to birds.

"Well, there is not much to adjust about this power," Sam said and then yawned, "Let's talk about this tomorrow, okay? Now, sleep."

Steve said nothing, so Sam closed his eyes. But he didn't have a chance to really fall asleep because a few minutes later, Steve called his name again.

"Sam."

"What?"

"Should we get a cat?"

 **END**

 **Author's Note:** I feel like this shouldn't be at 3.7k long lol. The last part mostly to tease upcoming fics. I have a headcanon where there were people who came back from the snap having new powers, like Janet in ant man and the wasp, so I just applied that to this upcoming sam-and-steve-getting-married series.

also, in case i didn't have time to write the fic: steve ends up adopting a cat, but the cat doesn't like him and loves peter. they wonder if they should exchange cats.


End file.
